Craft Product Review: Scissor Mouse by Westcott

May 14, 2012

When I first saw the Scissor Mouse by Westcott, my first thought was “genius!” – and as someone with disabilities who often has difficulty manipulating regular scissors, I was especially excited about the possibilities this new product presented.

The Scissor Mouse is shaped just like the mouse for your computer!It fits easily in the hand, and requires little effort to hold.

There is a center line on the Scissor Mouse, along with a small ruler along the front, with a “0” mark in the middle, to help you line up straight when cutting.

There is a red paper guide on the bottom, where your paper slips in, and the circular blade is next to that. The blade is flush with the bottom of the Scissor Mouse, so that little hands are protected (as are your cutting surfaces). You can see the four wheels, which help the Scissor Mouse move smoothly while cutting.

The Scissor Mouse is designed for cutting “straight or long, wavy cuts,” so I decided to try it out on multiple types of papers and materials. To use the Scissor Mouse, you simply roll it over the paper, making sure the paper slips under the paper guide as the Scissor Mouse rolls over the edge of the paper, and begin to cut. It couldn’t be more simple.

First, I cut up a piece of vintage dictionary paper. You can see that, for the most part, it cut smoothly through the paper.

It did, occasionally, get hung up, though, and cause tearing…and I would have to pull bits of paper out of the blade area. This was very thin paper, so I’m guessing that was the problem.

Next, I tried cutting card stock. I was able to easily cut both a straight line and a curvy line, with no problem.

I wanted to also see if I was able to draw a curvy line, then follow it with the Scissor Mouse – to see how well I could control the cutting. You can see that while I wasn’t able to stay exactly on the line, it was a close approximation to the line I had drawn.

I also tried making some short cuts, using the grid on my cutting mat, to see if I could cut 1″ squares, and I was able to successfully do so.

This is watercolor paper (90lb) which had been painted on with an acrylic glaze. The Scissor Mouse cut through it cleanly.

I pushed the boundaries a bit and tried to cut through some Sticky-Back Canvas. The Scissor Mouse wasn’t able to cut through it. It cut through the paper backing, but wouldn’t cut through the canvas.

I tried cutting a sheet of clear transparency, (fairly thick…probably from product packaging) – and the Scissor Mouse made a small cut, but then got caught up and wasn’t able to continue.

I tried cutting wrapping paper (one of the recommended uses), and the Scissor Mouse worked beautifully and quickly – a much cleaner, straighter line than I ever get when cutting with regular scissors!

Finally, I tried cutting some tissue paper. However, the Scissor Mouse was unable to cut it – likely because the paper was just too thin. The paper bunched up and got stuck in the blade of the Scissor Mouse.

The Scissor Mouse easily cut through two-sided scrapbooking paper…and I used it several times as I worked on the following page layout.

All in all, I think the Scissor Mouse is a useful tool for anyone who needs to make a lot of straight cuts on such papers as wrapping paper, kraft paper, copy paper, etc. Â It is certainly not for making detailed cuts, and will not replace your regular scissors. For anyone who has disabilities affecting the hands, such as neuropathy or arthritis, this could be a very useful general use tool for making straight cuts through regular paper. It is easy to hold, doesn’t require a lot of strength or dexterity, and is easy to manipulate. It would also be good for small children who are just beginning to cut paper, or who haven’t yet mastered scissor skills…as the blade is not exposed and it would be easy for them to manipulate.

The Scissor Mouse retails for $14.99, which seems reasonable compared to other specialty scissors on the market.

What do you think about this concept? Have you seen it – or tried it?

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About Jennifer

Jen is married and the homeschooling mother of 3 children. She blogs about art journaling, mixed media, other crafts, family, homeschooling, special needs, disability, and other randomness at My Crafty Friend Jen.

I just bought one. It is going back tonight! It doesn’t cut anything! Huge waste of $9.99 at Staples. It doesn’t come with instructions, but after reading yours, I tried again — NOTHING! Looks cute, but no functionality what-so-ever!

I just got out a magnifying glass and looked at the blade. It is totally recessed into the rest of the device. I realize this is a safety feature, but it is too recessed to be able to cut anything — none of the blade sticks out or can touch the paper. Maybe I got a dud?

Jenny’s Note: The following comment was made by a paid spokesperson for Westcott Brand:

Westcott does not advertise that Scissor Mouse cuts anything BUT wrapping paper, 20lb paper, card stock, construction paper or scrapbook paper. You are correct in saying that it will not cut any of the thin paper like tissue. It will not work without the red paper guide underneath. This cannot be taken off. Also it needs to be brought to the edge of the paper to begin a cut. Once you get used to it the Scissor Mouse is very handy and fun!

It looks as though it would make carpal tunnel pain flare up as it’s using the pressure on the lower palm. In any case I think I’ll stick with my rotary blades for most things. It’s not worth it to me to get a tool just for wrapping paper.

I just bought one of these today, I haven’t got to try it out yet. If it does what the ad says, this is just what I need. If it works ok, I’ll pick up a couple more, just to have around the house, especially for cutting wrapping paper.

Mine was and is worthless. During my third attempt (1st and 2nd failed miserably) to cut through paper the white (not red) paper guide underneath flew off and I could not get it back on again. Without it, the device made an even greater mess than during the two miserably failed first attempts. I never had any scissor that made such a mess of paper. I just tossed the thing away. I paid 6 euros for it and it’s not worth getting my money back. I’ll stick to normal scissors. By the way, the packaging says “4+” and “Art.-Nr. E-15526 00”.

Well I think it’s brilliant I use it for cutting my origami paper into squares no problem, newspapers no problem, photos no problem, wish they did a more substantial model in say metal with some sort of access to the inside of it so u can clean it out when it gets paper bits inside, this is what stops it cutting properly, got mine from costco £5.79 for two bought half a dozen and love them to bits.

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Hi! I’m Jenny, the co-host of Hands On Crafts for Kids on PBS and the Head Dummy behind CraftTestDummies.com where you’ll find craft product reviews, tutorials, and craft industry news.

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Jenny Barnett Rohrs is Head Dummy and Pied Piper behind CTD, which focuses on reviews, tutorials, and craft industry news. Jenny has appeared on HSN, Scrapbook Soup PBS series, and is currently the co-host of Hands On Crafts for Kids on PBS.

Copyrighted Content Permission All images and tutorials on this blog are copyrighted material. Please contact me if you would like to borrow any media (photos, video or audio files), tutorials, or ideas from this blog. 99% of the time I would be happy to allow you to use one photo with appropriate credit and link back to CraftTestDummies.com (preferably to the same post it was borrowed from.)